Licensing Projects — Ham Radio


Why is the Northwestern Leadership Institute Advocating Amateur Radio?

By Suellene Petersen, K6CPA

Public Information Coordinator, ARRL Pacific Division, Santa Clara Valley Section

They are convinced, for very good reasons, that Amateur Radio provides a positive influence in youth as they approach learning about the scientific and technical skills so necessary for their success in achieving a solid foundation for the future. Director, Brian King and his student Galen Asphaug (age 13), both graduated from the Technician Class recently taught by the Santa Cruz VE Group. Both graduates passed both their Technician and General exams. Achieving this success illustrated to Brian that the inclusion of the concepts requisite to FCC licensing to be foundational for an introduction to technical and scientific education. The Northwestern Outdoor Leardership Institute is an innovative school that provides an environment in which pre-teen and teen age children thrive academically and the study of Amateur Radio fits right in to their curriculum and teaching methodology.

Ham Radio at NOLI School

Science, Math, History, Government: We are a school that holds classes in the wilderness, we connect kids to their ancestral past, we teach them how to learn, and we let them study what they are passionate about; what we are not is Luddites, we by no means shun technology. Like scuba, flight, and hunting, ham radio is a great tool for going deep into the sciences, math, and history. School has been out a week and we are still working on school stuff, going to meetings, and building equipment. Ham radio is also the backbone of emergency communication in the world.

To assure a skilled and practiced body of ham radio operators an event is held the last weekend in June since 1933 throughout North America simply called Field Day. Field Day is an annual amateur radio exercise, encouraging emergency communications preparedness among amateur radio operators. In the United States, it is typically the largest single emergency preparedness exercise in the country, with over 30,000 operators participating each year. NOLI staff and students participate at Field Day at the Cal Fire facility on Empire Grade. The San Lorenzo ARRL club host this site every June. If you would like to meet us or just want to see what ham radio is about come out and say “Hi”.

To Get Your License

The Technician class license is the entry-level license that currently all new ham radio operators earn. To earn the Technician license requires passing one examination totaling 35 questions on radio theory, regulations and operating practices. The license gives access to all Amateur Radio frequencies above 30 megahertz, allowing these licensees the ability to communicate locally and most often within North America. It also allows for some limited privileges on the HF (also called “short wave”) bands used for international communications.

At NOLI we encourage our students to go deeper and get their General and Extra Class Licenses. This will give the student full access to all the frequencies that are available to ham radio operators to transmit on. These lower frequencies makes possible communication with ham operators through out the world. Studying for these tests also gives the students a much better education in math, physics, earth science,and more.

Passing The Tests

Our students get the texts from ARRL and study the material during their academic day. The students use the learning core routine that is the back bone of the students studies at NOLI. It takes work, but can be a major part of your studies during your day at NOLI. Some of your NOLI mentors and other classmates are also hams and can help the student in their studies. Our students are also encouraged to attend classes offered by our local ARRL club. These classes are taught by a number of very experienced hams. These instructors answer questions, and give in depth insight into the world of ham radio that only deep experiences can offer.. These classes are free but the students must make a commitment to complete the class.

Once prepared the students sign up for taking the exams, they are offered locally and there is only a $15 cost.

Here is a detailed list of topics that the students gained mastery of preparing for the Tech and General Class License: History of Wireless Communication, Operating Techniques, Digital Modes, Emergency Operation, Regulatory Bodies, Amateur Licensing Rules, Control Operator Privileges, Technical Rules and Standards, Electrical Theory, Power, Basic Components, Reactance and Impedance , Active Components, Practical Circuits, Logic and Counters, OpAmps, Basic Test Equipment, Signal Review, Digital Modes computer operations, Radio’s Building Blocks, Oscillators and Synthesizers , Transmitter Structure, outboard linear amplifiers, Receiver Structure, HF Station Installation, Antenna Basics, Dipoles, Ground, Yagi Antennas, Loop Antennas, Specialized Antennas, Feed Lines, Skywave Propagation, Space Communications, The Ionosphere, The Sun, Scatter Modes, Electrical Safety, RF Exposure, Outdoor Safety, exam prep… I think you should understand what the students get out of it.

Galen is 13, a full time student in NOLI School. He enrolled in the school Fall 2013 and participated in our wilderness camps from 2010 to present.

"Education doesn’t make you happy. Nor does freedom. We don’t become happy just because we’re free – if we are. Or because we’ve been educated – if we have. But because education may be the means by which we realize we are happy. It opens our eyes, our ears, tells us where delights are lurking, convinces us that there is only one freedom of any importance whatsoever, that of the mind, and gives us the assurance – the confidence – to walk the path our mind, our educated mind, offers."
—Iris Murdoch
"When Everything Else Fails. Amateur Radio often times is our last line of defense...When you need amateur radio, you really need them."
—The Honorable W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, US Department of Homeland Security, FEMA